Welfare: Managing the Poor

The Reagan Administration, which prides
itself on keeping Government out of people's lives, made a distinctly
paternalistic proposal last week. The Department of Health and Human
Services suggested that a portion of welfare recipients' monthly checks
under the Aid for Dependent Children program (A.F.D.C.) be earmarked
for rent payment, ensuring that landlords will get their money. The
proposal, proponents feel, would make welfare tenants more attractive
to landlords and cut down on the eviction rate.

Most of the nation's 16 million welfare recipients are permit ted to
spend their checks as they choose. The suggested change would mean that
welfare tenants...